Cubs, an all encompassing trip

Cubs Shutting Down Samardzija After Saturday / Claim Berken

There have been whispers for a while, now the Cubs have confirmed that they will shut down Samardzija after his start on Saturday against the Pirates. This is Samardzija’s first full season as a starting pitcher and he has been fantastic going 8-13, with a 3.91 ERA. He is currently at 165.2 innings, and has made 27 starts, really great to see him take the ball every fifth day and do his job. Shark was a question mark coming into 2012, the Cubs were on the fence about starting him, what a difference a year makes as the Cubs will enter 2013 with Samardzija at the top of their rotation at either number one or number two, in fact Sveum just said that Jeff’s next start might be opening day 2013.

Jason Berken was claimed by the Cubs today off of waivers from Baltimore, stop me if you’ve heard this before. Berken will take Samardzija’s place in the rotation after Saturday.

Via MLBTRADERUMORS.com

Berken spent most of the 2012 season at Triple-A, where he posted a 3.50 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 26 starts. The 28-year-old appeared in just one game with Baltimore this year, but he was a fixture in the Orioles’ rotation in 2009 and in their bullpen from 2010-11

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.